Automated system and method for planting nursery seedlings

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the autonomous and precision agriculture sector, and refers, more specifically, to a system for seedling planting machines with a focus on reforestation and forestry (silviculture) for mechanized planting, in areas of installation, renovation and/or recovery of degraded areas with minimal impact on the environment, self-propelled, which plants from 1,800 to 3,600 seedlings per hour, in a sliding and continuous system, with water or gel irrigation, guaranteeing the quality of planting with an intelligent system, which checks each seedling, evaluating whether there has been drowning of the collection, exposure of the substrate, if the seedling is inclined, indicating even if the seedling was not planted and where it happened, generating a planting map (KML) with the GPS position of each seedling.

1 . AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR PLANTING NURSERY SEEDLINGS introduced in a self-propelled machine, with engine with radiator and gearbox having a power that can vary from 130 to 190 hp, with electronic injection and can perform the gears automatically according to the load, which has wheels with fenders equipped with a hydrostatic engine, with a carousel operator's seat ( 1 ) consisting of a monitor and a pilot's seat inside the cabin ( 10 ) consisting of a monitor ( 57 ) and steering wheel, with an earth compressor ( 51 ) coupled by a support arm and adjusted by a hydraulic piston; being composed in the front part of radar ( 52 ), front camera ( 59 ) and rear camera ( 53 ), and georeferencing system that uses GPS equipment ( 55 ) that captures and records the position of each seedling planted, through an antenna ( 54 ), to generate a digital planting map at the end of planting;
 the machine can also use a hydrostatic transmission system with independent and intelligent suspension on each wheel, which identifies obstacles ahead for each wheel and calibrates the hydraulic suspension to move the piston of each suspension up or down independently, the suspension being formed from a hydraulic piston for vertical adjustment of the wheel directly interconnected to a suspension arm that has a hydraulic piston for adjusting the direction of the wheel and a hydraulic piston for adjusting the rotation of the wheel axis; and characterized in that it is formed by the rotating seedling supply ( 3 ) which is composed of a rotating support ( 16 ) of bases ( 17 ) for the seedling trays that receives an axis ( 15 ) that allows circular movement, having coupled cylinders ( 13 ) that act to lower and raise the tray support, also having a fixing rod ( 14 ) on the machine body; and the seedling trays can be supported on shelves ( 60 );   a) carousel ( 1 ) supported by a support ( 23 ) which is fixed to the machine structure, which has a bearing hub ( 22 ) that ensures clockwise movement supported by a support ( 25 ), being driven by a hydraulic motor ( 31 ) that propels the entire system by moving the carousel clockwise to release a seedling per turn to the first stage tube ( 29 ), which has a lid ( 28 ) that prevents the seedlings from falling out of the tube where they are waiting to be planted; still having a helical pinion ( 26 ) and a planetary gear ( 27 ), which operates as a rack, also having a gear reducer ( 30 ) that helps in the movement to release one seedling at a time that will come out of each tube of the first stage ( 29 ), and in said tube ( 29 ) 30 seedlings are deposited, which will be planted one by one; and it also has a second stage waiting tube for the seedlings ( 24 ), in which the seedling leaves the carousel ( 1 ), waits until the planting nozzle ( 4 ) finishes the “injection” of a seedling, and goes up to pick up the next seedling, having a guide ring ( 32 ), whose system opens the door ( 28 ) of the first stage tube ( 29 ) to allow the seedling to fall into the second stage tube ( 24 );   b) horizontal linear guide ( 5 ), which allows the horizontal displacement of the planting beak ( 4 ), serving as a forward and backward displacement platform, and that has a leveling platform ( 19 ), which allows the vertical leveling of the entire system, a bearing hub ( 20 ), which allows the radial movement of the leveling assembly for leveling the entire planting beak ( 4 ), and a rack ( 21 ), contact point of the helical pine ( 45 ) for the forward displacement of the entire planting beak system at the end of the “injection” of a seedling, and the beginning of a new planting cycle of a new seedling;   c) the guide ( 5 ) is mounted next to a support structure ( 2 ) that is fixed to the machine body, and receives a turning point ( 6 ), this system to level and stabilize the planting beak ( 4 ) and which guarantees that the beak always plants the seedlings in a perpendicular position to the sky; it receives leveling cylinders ( 7 ), which work by helping to level the planting beak ( 4 ) during machine displacement; a transverse tensioner ( 8 ) that works together with the turning point ( 6 ) to level the planting beak ( 4 ); a longitudinal tensioner ( 9 ), which prevents torsion movements of the entire leveling and stabilization system; a transverse tensioner support ( 11 ), which prevents transverse twisting of the entire system that makes up the planting beak ( 4 );   and a support for the leveling cylinder ( 12 ), being the coupling point of the leveling cylinders ( 7 ) with the structure of the entire system, which is fixed to the body of the machine;   d) coupled to the horizontal linear guide ( 5 ) there is the planting beak ( 4 ), which is built from a structure with a straight horizontal carriage ( 38 ), which allows horizontal movement; a helical pinion ( 45 ) that performs the displacement of the planting beak in the linear guide ( 5 ) being connected to the rack ( 21 ); a cylinder ( 40 ) that moves in and out of the soil of the planting beak and is mounted next to the support ( 41 ); vertical linear guide ( 46 ), which performs the downward and upward displacement of the entire planting beak; horizontal sliding skid ( 47 ), which allows displacement of the nozzle on the linear guide ( 5 ) that moves forward with the action of the hydraulic motor ( 44 ) and at the same machine speed in the opposite direction to the displacement of the machine during the “injection” of the seedling; vertical sliding skate ( 48 ), which allows the beak to move up/down to enter and exit the earth; planting beak cone ( 49 ), which causes the seedling to fall inside the external ( 34 ) and internal ( 35 ) beak, before being “injected” into the soil; cylinder ( 42 ), which rotates on the axis of the internal beak ( 35 ), guided inside the external beak ( 34 ) to open the “door” that will allow the seedling to be “released” into the soil; vertical front carriage ( 36 ), which makes the up/down movement of the spout; said external nozzle ( 34 ), the seedling “injection” nozzle formed by the external nozzle ( 34 ) and the internal nozzle ( 35 ), two cylindrical and conical pieces inserted one inside the other, where the external nozzle ( 34 ) works as a guide and support for the inner beak ( 35 ), the inner beak that rotates around its own axis and guided by the outer beak, causes the rear opening of the planting beak and “releases” the seedling during planting; it also has a compacting plate ( 33 ), which compacts the earth to form the basin that will dam the water around the seedling; compactor plate cylinders ( 37 ), which together with the nitrogen pressure accumulator, work as a spring maintaining the necessary pressure for the plate ( 33 ) to make the basin to dam the water around the seedling; a cylinder support ( 39 ), where the cylinders that make the up/down movement of the compaction plate that forms the basin for damming water around the seedling are fixed; planting beak support ( 43 ), for fixing the external ( 34 ) and internal ( 35 ) beak; and a hydraulic motor ( 44 ), which makes the horizontal and linear movement of the planting nozzle ( 4 ) in the linear guide ( 5 ), when returning to the zero point, the nozzle is unlocked and returns by inertia, sliding backwards in the speed at which the machine is being moved across the planting area, during the seedling “injection” process; still having a reservoir ( 50 ) with around 8,000 L of water that is dragged by the machine and can irrigate an average of 4 L per seedling;   and the planting nozzle ( 4 ) has an ultrasonic sensor of height of the nozzle ( 58 ), which penetrates the ground and performs at the same time and redundantly to the radar system ( 52 ) a mechanical test, verifying that there is no object preventing the planting of seedlings; being able to have a self-cleaning system located inside the nozzle ( 34 ), which prevents the accumulation of mud, in which the internal nozzle ( 35 ) has an internally welded plate and when there is movement of the external nozzle ( 34 ), on its return in the ascent, the plate that is immobile acts touching the mud together with the water that is dispensed.   
     
     
         2 . SYSTEM, according to  claim 1 , and characterized in that the machine can be coupled to a reservoir ( 50 ) for the operation of the water injection system (post planting irrigation) and gel application. 
     
     
         3 . AUTOMATED METHOD FOR PLANTING NURSERY SEEDLINGS reproduced by the system of  claim 1 , and characterized by the following steps:
 a) 18 trays or more are loaded into the rotary supply ( 3 ) with the seedlings to be planted, with an average of 200 seedlings per tray;   b) The formicide deposit ( 56 ) is loaded;   c) The planting map and planting sketch are loaded, which will command the autopilot so that the machine moves over the fertilization line that was previously carried out;   d) Start up the machine systems, both machine operation and the planting system and perform automatic self-tests;   e) The carousel ( 1 ) is loaded with 30 seedlings to start planting;   f) The machine is positioned on the first planting line recorded in the GPS and the “start” command is activated to start planting;   g) The system moves the carousel ( 1 ) forward one position clockwise, the individual seedling deposit ( 29 ) opens, a seedling is dispensed into the funnel ( 32 ) which leads the seedling to the cone ( 49 ), where the seedling awaits the movement of the planting beak ( 34 ) upwards, which will open the deposit to release the seedling and start planting the first seedling;   h) The micro soil is read to plant the first seedling, checking if there are obstacles that prevent the injection of the seedling;   i) The nozzle ( 34 ) is lowered to the correct height for seedling injection, which is calculated by the radar system ( 52 ) and by a sensor ( 58 ) operating in a redundancy system, verifying the opposite pressure exerted by the soil on the planting beak, increasing the planting efficiency of each seedling;   j) Once the planting is completed and the formation of the basin by the dish ( 33 ) to receive the irrigation, the spout is raised and returns to the initial position, where it will wait for the command to receive the next seedling;   k) When the nozzle ( 34 ) goes up, cleaning takes place, which will remove excess internal mud;   l) The soil is read before the nozzle enters the earth through GPR (Ground Penetration Radar) to check, as the machine moves, if there is any obstacle that prevents the nozzle ( 34 ) from planting the seedling correctly;   m) From the spacing defined for planting, it is defined where the seedling can be planted;   n) The formicide is dispensed at the correct distance and in the quantity specified by the planting sketch;     0 . Irrigation water is dispensed in a continuous system from the reservoir ( 50 ) in the opposite direction to the movement of the machine, being able to release from 500 ml to 4 L of irrigation with water or gel on top of the seedling;   p) The image of the planted seedling is registered with a photo at the end of the injection and creation of the basin around the seedling to verify the quality of the planting, evaluating parameters such as: the inclination of the seedling, if the collar is “drowned” or not, whether the substrate is exposed or not and a score for the planting quality of each seedling, recording all this data in the machine's system memory so that the machine connects to the internet, automatically upload all the planting data to the cloud in order to allow the person responsible for the planting to consult and save all the information related to that planting in a KML map with the GPS position of each seedling;   q) The machine will repeat the aforementioned steps until the seedlings are finished; and when finished, it will stop to load new trays with more seedlings, and complete the reservoir ( 50 ) with water or planting gel, in addition to completing the reservoir of ant poison ( 56 ).   
     
     
         4 . METHOD, according to  claim 3 , and characterized in that in step c) recording the GPS fertilization line on a pen drive or digital memory and then load the GPS data that contains the line where the fertilizer was buried so that the machine plants where the fertilizer is buried; and the planting sketch contain characteristics established for planting, such as: spacing between seedlings, amount of water in irrigation, amount of gel applied to each seedling, whether irrigation will be buried or over the seedling, whether the gel will be released inside of the soil along with the substrate or above the seedling ( 29 ), where the ant killer and its quantity will be dispensed, and all the other parameters necessary for planting. 
     
     
         5 . METHOD, according to  claim 3 , and characterized in that after step d), if the machine has a compactor roller ( 51 ) at the front, this goes down until it touches the soil and presses the soil as the machine moves to create a regular and homogeneous surface accumulating soil in the middle. 
     
     
         6 . METHOD, according to  claim 3 , and characterized in that in step e) the operator selects a tray with seedlings from the shelf ( 60 ), places it next to the chair where he will follow the work of the machine (onboard), and dispenses each seedling in the positions of the carousel inside the tubes ( 29 ); where the carousel ( 1 ) is formed by 30 tubes ( 29 ) that receive and dispense one seedling at a time. 
     
     
         7 . METHOD, according to  claim 3 , and characterized in that in step i) optionally, when opening the door ( 35 ) of the planting nozzle inside the earth, you can activate a solenoid valve that will allow the injection of gel into the earth together with the substrate or even dispense water into the earth together with the substrate. 
     
     
         8 . METHOD, according to  claim 3 , and characterized in that in step i) while planting, preparing a “basin” through the plate ( 33 ) pressing the soil to receive a calculated dose of water, which may vary according to the specifications determined for the planting and which is adjusted in the system that controls the planting; and the operator, based on data passed as parameters for planting, can select, via the system, how many liters the machine will apply after having injected the seedling; and the selection of applied water varies from 500 ml to 4 L per seedling (selection via embedded system). 
     
     
         9 . METHOD, according to  claim 3 , and characterized in that in step I) the system uses an ultrasonic nozzle height sensor ( 55 ) that penetrates the soil and performs at the same time and redundantly a mechanical test, burying a metal bar to verify that no object is preventing the planting of the seedling. 
     
     
         10 . METHOD, according to  claim 3 , and characterized in that in step m) the operator defines the spacing and finds a superficial or buried obstacle in the next planting, the system can decide where to plant and make sure that there are no obstacles in the selected position; and from the next seedling, plant at a uniform distance in relation to the previous seedling to maintain a correct alignment in the planting line.